Weekend Update … Notes from Day 11 of Camp Lou

It is the last day of February and the first pitch of the Cubs’ Cactus League schedule is in just four days …

Apparently Day 11 of Camp Lou IV was anything but boring … with Carlos Marmol throwing live batting practice. Lou Piniella said Marmol is “far ahead” of where he was last spring … but he hit Starlin Castro on the “backside” with a slider, then jammed him and brushed him back. Castro was not hurt and Piniella admired the way he stayed in against Marmol.

The Cubs received positive news on Alfonso Soriano, he feels his knee is about 90% … here’s the rest from day 11 of Camp Lou.

Notes from Mesa

Lou Piniella said the Cubs are going to stretch out eight or nine guys this spring (starting pitchers). The Cubs have a lot of split squad games early and they will need the extended innings … three of the Cubs five split squad games are in the first nine days, the Cubs have only one day off this spring, March 17.

The Cubs will sort out the bullpen situation in mid-March. Some of the guys competing for a starting job could end up in the pen.

Aramis Ramirezwould not take live batting practice against Carlos Marmol. Ramirez will get his live BP on Thursday when the games begin. This is not new for Ramirez. He has not taken part in live batting practice in the past.

The CCO on Twitter … The CCO has received several direct messages on Twitter. Please follow the CCO on Twitter so I can respond to you directly.

Make sure to check the CCO’s twitter feed during the day. With Spring Training underway, news and notes will pop up that are worthy of a mention but not front page news. The CCO will tweet what we hear, of course from reliable sources.

If you don’t have an account on the CCO … sign-up for one to share your thoughts and interact with the rest of the Faithful.

Quote of the Day

"About the only problem with success is that it does not teach you how to deal with failure." - Tommy Lasorda